1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus and method for improved electronic mail, and more particularly, to an apparatus and method for improved electronic mail in which the e-mail apparatus includes a memory for storing display names and e-mail addresses corresponding to the display names, and a controller for extracting an e-mail address from a received E-mail message, retrieving a display name corresponding to the extracted e-mail address from the memory, modifying the display name of the received e-mail message into the retrieved display name, and outputting the modified display name. Portable telecommunication terminal may include the apparatus and method for improved electronic mail.
2. Description of the Related Art
The development of the Internet has allowed people to be able to promptly and conveniently send and receive information via e-mail. Similar to conventional mail, the e-mail message has a sender's address and a recipient's address. Such information is sent while being stored in an e-mail header.
The header of the e-mail message includes information such as address fields of a sender (“from”), a reply recipient (“reply-to”), a recipient (“to”), a carbon copy (cc) recipient and a blind carbon copy (bcc) recipient. The e-mail sender provides the e-mail address or display name for each address field according to objects. The sender can directly input a recipient's e-mail address through an edit window, such that the recipient's e-mail address is included in the e-mail header. In this case, since the sender does not designate a specific display name, the e-mail address itself becomes the display name and is stored in the e-mail header.
However, if an e-mail client or e-mail server supports an address book function, the sender can store the information of the recipient's display name and e-mail address in the address book. Also, when the sender inputs the recipient's display name in the edit window, the e-mail client links it to data of the address book and extracts the corresponding e-mail address, and then automatically adds the extracted e-mail address to the e-mail header. At this point, the address field of the e-mail header is constructed in a form of the display name and the actual e-mail address.
This address inputting/displaying method is convenient for the sender. As to the recipient, however, the display name is extracted from the address field of the received e-mail header and then displayed for the recipient. Therefore, when the recipient and the sender store different display names in their address books with respect to the same e-mail address, the recipient sees the display name created based on the sender's address book.
While the existing e-mail service provides the function of linking the e-mail address to the address book when composing the e-mail message, it does not provide that function when receiving the e-mail message. This is an inconvenience to the recipient.
The display name provides a meaningful character sequence for the user's convenience. However, as to the recipient, the display name created based on the sender's address book is not meaningful and is unnecessary information. In this manner, the conventional e-mail service is convenient for the sender, but is inconvenient for the recipient.